Kids May See Better If They Play Outside

Below:

Next story in Science

Children who spend more time outdoors may have a lower risk of
becoming nearsighted, new research suggests.

In the study, researchers looked at about 1,900 schoolchildren in
China. The scientists found that the kids who had been instructed
to spend more time outdoors over three years were 23 percent less
likely to develop nearsightedness during this time than those who
had not been instructed to spend more time
outdoors.

Moreover, among the kids who did become nearsighted during the
study, the degree to which their eyesight worsened was slightly
smaller among those who spent more time outdoors, the researchers
found.

Although the study was conducted in China, the results likely
apply to children elsewhere, too, said study author Dr. Mingguang
He, of the Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, in Guangzhou.
Previous research has suggested "the protective effect of
outdoor time in Australia and United States on children of
European ancestry," he said.

In the study, the researchers selected six schools and assigned
the children, whose average age was 7 at the study's start, to
attend one additional 40-minute class of outdoor activities
during each school day for three years. The parents of these
children were also encouraged to engage their children in outdoor
activities after school, especially during weekends and holidays.
The other half of the children, from another six schools,
continued their usual activity patterns. [ 10
Scientific Tips for Raising Happy Kids ]

After three years, 30.4 percent of the kids in the intervention
group had become nearsighted, compared with 38.5 percent of the
kids in the control group, the researchers found.

The reduction in the risk of nearsightedness found in the study
is important, because children who develop nearsightedness at a
young age are most likely to develop worse myopia (the medical
term for nearsightedness) later on, the researchers said. This
means these children are at increased risk of "pathological
myopia," which is a severe form of vision impairment.

"Thus, a delay in the onset of myopia in young children, who tend
to have a higher rate of progression, could provide
disproportionate long-term eye-health benefit," the researchers
wrote in their study, published today (Sep. 15) in the journal
JAMA.

It is not clear exactly why spending more time outside would
benefit children's eyesight, the researchers said. However, some
research has suggested that the higher levels of light intensity
found outdoors may increase the release of the chemical dopamine
from the retina of
the eye, He said. In turn, dopamine is known to inhibit the
type of growth in the eye that is associated with myopia, he
said.

Based on the new results, the researchers recommend that children
spend more time outdoors because of the potential
benefits to their eyesight, He said. "In fact, in order to
maximize the benefit, we should further increase the outdoor time
by using school recesses and encouraging parents bring their
children outside on weekends, He said.

However, it's important to protect kids' skin and eyes from UV
light, which can be damaging, he noted. The American Academy of
Pediatrics recommends that children stay in shaded areas when
possible, wear a hat or cap, and use
broad-spectrum sunscreen.

"Given the popular appeal of increased outdoor activities to
improve the health of school-aged children in general, the
potential benefit of slowing myopia development and progression
by those same activities is difficult to ignore," Dr. Michael X.
Repka, a pediatric ophthalmologist at the Johns Hopkins
University School of Medicine, Baltimore, who was not
involved in the study, wrote in an editorial accompanying the
study in the journal.

But parents should understand that any benefit to children's
eyesight of spending more time outside "is likely to be small,"
and it is uncertain how long this benefit may last, Repka wrote.